Chestnut oak and black birch trees together dominate dry, rocky slopes and ridge tops in southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as from southern Maine and Ontario to Ohio and Delaware, and along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and Alabama.

Make gift-giving easy with unique green gifts that provide weeks and, in some cases, months and years of beauty. Plus, gifting easy-care blooming plants is an experiential gift that’s ideal for everyone, especially that person on your list who has everything.

Sitting on our lawn one evening this summer, I thought about the adaptable wildlife that recently raised young or lived in sheltered places on the outside of our house in a suburban area. These common creatures provided much entertainment and intrigue to us, right at home.